ADU OGYINAE: (Ashanti):
The first man. He was the leader of the seven men, some women, a dog and a leopard who were
the first beings to come to the surface of the earth from holes in the ground.
AMAROK: (Innuit):
The Great
Wolf.
ANPU: (Egypt):
The Royal Child, Anpu, the Jackal God is one of the oldest gods of Egypt, predating Wesir/Osiris
who supplanted him at the beginning of the Middle Kingdom. Opener of the Roads/West. Psychopompos, messenger, Guardian of
The Secrets and Sacred writings. Anpu is Guardian of the Veil and Guide of the Soul. Patron of Orphans and lost souls, god
of magic and physician. Personification of Time and Lord of the Circle. He is "Sekem em Pat", the Power of Heaven. Known as
Anubis to the Greeks.
ARALEZ (Armenia):
Beneficent dog-like spirits.
ARAWN: (Welsh):
King
of Annwn, the Abyss or Underworld. Arawn is the Grey Man of Earth, a Death Lord who kills in order to bring forth new life.
He is first-born and husband to Modron, the Goddess behind all the Gods. See Cwn Annwyn.
ARTEMIS-DIANA: (Greek,
Roman):
Artemis-Diana, leader of the Scythian alani or "hunting dogs". Goddess of wild animals, the wilderness in general,
the hunt, and a protectress of women.
BARGUEST: (Yorkshire):
Possibly from the German bargeist, meaning "spirit
of the (funeral) bier". A monstrous nocturnal dog with huge teeth and claws. It was believed that anyone who saw Barghest
would die soon after.
BAU: (Sumeria):
Dog-headed Goddess of the Underworld. Daughter of An. It has been suggested
that An-pu may be a continuation/extension of the idea An-Bau.
BHACAIN: (Scotland):
A large standing stone
that resembles a dog's head, at Cashlie in the Scottish Highlands. Bhacain is Gaelic for "dog stake". It is said that Fionn
MacCummail's warriors tethered their hunting dogs here.
BHAIRAVA: (Hindu):
Shiva in his wrathful form as Bhairava
is associated with dogs. The dog is as much considered his vahana or animal vehicle as is the bull, Nandi.
BITCH
GODDESS: (Indo-European):
A concept known in all the Indo European cultures from antiquity. Includes the Great Bitch Sarama
who led the Vedic dogs of death and Artemis-Diana, leader of the Scythian alani or "hunting dogs". Harlots or "bitches" were
identified in the ancient Roman cult of the Goddess Lupa, the Wolf Bitch, whose priestesses "lupae" gave their name to prostitutes
in general.
BLOODY TONGUE: (West Yorkshire):
A great dog with red eyes and a huge tail.
BOTOS:
(Yakut):
The two dogs Chardas and Botos are invisible assistants of the shaman.
CAILLECH: (Ireland, Scotland):
The
Veiled One. Destroyer and crone. Goddess of disease and plague. Dogs guarded the gates of the Other-world where she received
the dead. In myth her gatekeeper is a dog named Dormarth "Death's Door." Irish bards who could curse with satire were often
called cainte "dog."
CERBERUS: (Greek):
Watchdog at the entrance to Hades. Usually depicted as triple-headed
(originally fifty-headed). He permitted all to enter, but none to leave. In mythos he is only bested by Orpheus, Hercules,
Sybil and Aeneas.
CHARDAS: (Yakut):
The two dogs Chardas and Botos are invisible assistants of the shaman.
CHARON:
(Greek):
The Ferryman who traversed the river Styx delivering souls to Hades. He had the ears of a wolf.
CHERNOBOG:
(Slavic):
The old, Pre-Vladimir Slavic black demon (lit. "Black God") of the Varlagi Russians, represented by a black dog.
In the nuclear power plant disaster of 1987, the similarity of the name Chernobog to Chernobyl caused great distress amongst
some Russian people.
CHORONZON:
Demon of dispersion, guardian of the Abyss or the 10th aether. Choronzon may
appear as male, female, androgyne, neuter. He has been known to appear as a black snake, fox, or jackal.
COYOTE:
(Southwestern Indians and elsewhere):
A trickster, a clown. The creator and teacher of men. The Chinook people tell how
Coyote and Eagle went to the land of the dead to bring back their dead wives. However the plan devised by the two gods went
amiss and Coyote accidentally let loose the spirits of the dead who rose up like a cloud and disappeared to the west. So it
is that people must die forever, not like the plants which die in winter and are green again in turn. See Heyokah.
CU:
(Celtic):
A prefix meaning "Hound of -" often seen in the names of heroes and warriors eg Cu Chulainn as the Hound of Culann.
CU
CHULAINN (Celtic):
The Hound of Culann. Cu Chulainn originally was named Stanta but after killing the guard dog of Culann
the Smith he changed his name as a penance and assumes the dog's place for a time.
CWN ANNWYN: (Welsh):
The
Hounds of Annwn were death omens, described in an early Welsh poem as small, speckled and greyish-red, chained and led by
a black-horned figure. These were ghost dogs which appeared only at night to foretell death, sent from Annwn to seek out corpses
and human souls. See Arawn.
CYNOTHERAPISTS: (Greek, Roman):
In Greece and Rome dogs were considered messengers
of the gods. It was even thought that they could smell out disease. Special healing dogs, cynotherapists, were kept in temples
to comfort the sick and dying, and to lick their wounds which sometimes caused a miraculous recovery. Their divine patron
was Hermanubis (Hermes + Anubis) with the head of a dog on the body of a man.
DEVIL'S DANDY, The: (Devon):
Also
known as the Dando Dogs.
DATTATREYA: (Hindu):
In depictions of Dattatreya, a deity combining the three male
gods Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, four dogs representing the four Vedas, stand at his feet. They accompany him as hounds of heaven
that track pure souls, and are the watchdogs of dharma in the sense of ultimate truth.
DHARMA - the Law: (Hindu):
In
the epic the Mahabharata a dog that accompanies Yudhishthira, the King of Pandavas through a series of ordeals to heaven is
revealed as Dharma in disguise.
DORMARTH: (Ireland, Scotland):
Meaning "Death's Door". The dog guarding the
afterworld ruled by Caillech, goddess of disease and plague, the "Veiled One".
DUAMUTEF: (Egypt):
Duamutef:
was one of the Four Sons of Horus and the protector of the stomach of the deceased, along with goddess Neith. He was represented
as a mummified man with the head of a jackal.
FENRIR: (Norse):
Child of Loki, an immense sky-wolf,
chained until Ragnarok, the End of Days. His fate is to devour the Sun at the end of time, and then to be slain by Vidar.
FRIAR
TUCK: (Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire):
In one story Robin Hood encounters Friar Tuck who agrees to carry Robin across a moat
to an island on the understanding that Robin will return the favour on the way back. However, Robin drops Friar Tuck in the
water half-way back. A fight ensues in which Friar Tuck summons 50 hounds and Robin Hood summons 50 archers. In the introduction
Friar Tuck is introduced as "Master of the Hounds".
GABRIEL HOUNDS, The: (Britain):
Also known as Gabble Retchets.
A pack of spectral hounds that are seen as a portent of death or disaster.
GARM: (Norse):
The Hound of Hel,
the watchdog chained to the gates of Under-Earth. The coming of Ragnarok will be signalled by His breaking the binding, allowing
him to run wild over the earth.
GERI: (Norse):
One of the two hounds of Odin who keep watch - one sleeps by
day and the other by night - outside the fortress-hall Lyfjaberg (mount of healing) of Mengloth. See Gifr.
GERYON:
(Greek):
A monster with three heads and three bodies, whose oxen ate human flesh, and who were guarded by Orthrus, a two-headed
dog.
GIFR: (Norse):
One of the two hounds of Odin who keep watch - one sleeps by day and the other by night
- outside the fortress-hall Lyfjaberg (mount of healing) of Mengloth. See Geri.
GLUSKAP: (Algonquin):
The
Creator, or the creator force. Generally benevolent, but often capricious. He created the plains, the food plants, the animals
and the human race from the body of the Mother Earth. Gluskap's brother and rival is Malsum, a wolf. When his work was finished,
Gluskap paddled towards the sunrise in a birch bark canoe. Some day, it is said, he may return.
GULA: (Sumerian):
Goddess.
A healer and patroness of medicine, usually accompanied by a dog.
GUNDESTROP CAULDRON, The:
Depicts a dog
underneath the cauldron in which a man or child is being immersed head-first.
Gurt Dog: (Somerset).
A black
dog signalling death.
GUYTRASH: (Lancashire):
Also known as Trash or Striker. A large shaggy dog with broad
webbed feet and drooping 'saucer' eyes.
GWYLLGI: (Wales):
The Dog of Darkness. Notable for its red eyes.
HECATE:
(Greek):
"Opener of Ways". Queen of the Dead. Greek goddess of the dark moon, crossroads, magic, wealth, wisdom, victory
and navigation. She is said to be the daughter of Perses and Asteria, while other traditions say she was the daughter of Zeus
and Hera. Hecate embodies the regenerative nature of destruction. She is accompanied by dogs. Sometimes depicted as dog headed.
Associated with Cerberus. Hecate and her hounds were overseers of cyclical time, guardians of life and the awakening of vegetation.
HEL,
HOLLA or HOLLE: (Germanic):
Goddess of the Underworld. Holle escorts the dead to the Underworld assisted by a wolf or dog.
HEROA:
(Aztec):
Heroa, the initiator of agriculture and the calendar, was helped by worms and bees on his journeys to the Land
of the Dead. He transformed them into a dog.
HEYOKAH: (Southwestern Indians and elsewhere):
Alternatively
recognised as Coyote. Sometimes known as Whiskey Jack, the archetypal trickster. See Coyote.
HYDRA: (Greek):
The
Lemean Hydra was a nine-headed fresh-water Serpent, or a beast with a dog-like body who was a guardian of the Golden Apples
of the Hesperides. If one head were removed another two replaced it. This monster was the offspring of Echidna by Typhon and
was killed by Hercules as his second Labour.
INDRA: (Hindu);
Indra, god of Thunder and Fire was associated
with the dog.
KE'LETS: (Chukchi/Siberia):
Demon of death. With his pack of dogs he hunts men, and brings death
to them.
KHORS: (Slavic):
God of sun and light, and one of the eight primary Slavonic deities. He seems to
have an association with dogs as well.
KUKKURIPA: (Buddhism):
Kukkuripa was reputed to live on an island surrounded
by dogs. He was a Mahasiddha (one of the 84 greatest yogis). In the legends of Guru Rinpoche, after some tantric scriptures
landed on the palace roof, King Indrabodhi brought them to Kukkuraja for interpretation.
KWAKIUTL TRIBE, The:
(British Columbia):
One of the Kwakiutl myths tells how the ancestors of these people took off their wolf masks and became
humans.
LAMASTU: (Akkadian):
Female demon who was supposedly responsible for the fevers and diseases of infants.
She is depicted with breasts bared and suckling a dog or pig.
LOKI: (Norse):
The Trickster who challenges
the structure and order of the Gods. The god of Fire. He is neither Aesir nor Vanir, but of the race of Ettins (Elementals)
and thus possesses some daemonic qualities. He is both friend and foe to the Aesir. His offspring include the Fenris Wolf
and Jormurgandr, the Midgard Wyrm, the goddess Hel (Hella, Holle), and Sleipnir, Odin's eight-legged horse.
LUPA:
(early Etruscan-Roman):
The Great Goddess. A she-wolf who suckles Romulus and Remus.
LUPERCUS: (Roman):
God
of wolves, significant to Romans in that the mythological founders of the Roman Nation (Romulus and Remus) were suckled by
a she-wolf in infancy.
LYKEGENES: (Greek):
Epithet for Apollo meaning "born from the she-wolf".
MADRA:
(Old Irish):
Dog. Note similarity to words pertaining to mother ie. the Latin "mater", "matron", "matrix", and the Sumerian
"mama".
MAITREYA: (Buddhism):
The Bodhisattva Maitreya appeared to the hermit Asanga as a maggot infested
dog, near to death. Asanga, moved by the dog's suffering, yet mindful of the maggots, gently removed the maggots with his
own tongue. At that point Maitreya appeared in the dog's place and spoke with the hermit. Note that the word "maitri" equates
to "loving-kindness". The lessons taught pertained to the idea that there is no clean nor unclean, and that repugnance is
a learned condition. Also that whatever we experience, all of reality, depends only on the state of our mind. Asanga (c. 300-370ce)
was a brahmin from Peshawar and is considered the founder of the Buddhist approach called Yogachara, or Consciousness-Only.
MALSUM:
Alonquin):
Wolf and brother to the Creator god Gluskap. Malsum made rocks, thickets and poisonous animals. He was killed
by his brother and his magic driven under the earth.
MAUTHE DOOG: (Isle of Man):
Variation of name, the Moddey
Dhoo. This entity may have provided the inspiration for "The Hound of the Baskervilles," by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
MITHRAS:
(Roman):
Dogs were held sacred to the Roman god, Mithras, as symbolic of sincerity and trustworthiness.
MUSHRUSHSHU:
(Sumerian):
Red dragon. A composite creature with the body of a dog, the head of a serpent and a long tail.
MUSTI:
(Finland):
The Finnish hero Kullervo hears the voice of his dead mother instruct him to take the black dog Musti with him
into the forest so that the dog may attend him. Kullervo returns to the forest where he seduced his sister unknowingly. In
despair he throws himself on his own sword.
OLDER BROTHER, YOUNGER BROTHER: (Shoshone):
A Shoshone myth which
explains how death came into the world highlights a difference between Wolf and Coyote who are referred to as older and younger
brother, respectively. In the First Days, Wolf was the Creator of order in this world, while Coyote always tried to oppose
him. Wolf considered that people could be renewed from Death but Coyote disagreed, saying that the world would be get filled
up with people. The consequences of Coyote's opposition was that death became final.
PAWNEE TRIBE, the: (Great
Plains):
The hand signal for "wolf" and "Pawnee" are almost identical commensurate with their strong identification with
the wolf in stories and myth.
POOKA: (Ireland):
Sometimes referred to as a Black Dog of death.
QUILETE
& MAKAH TRIBES, The: (Pacific North-West):
The Quilete and Makah Indians performed wolf dances to heal sick members
of their tribe.
RHYMNI: (Welsh):
A supernatural she-wolf known for her swiftness. In the Welsh "Tale of Culhwch
and Olwen" Culhwych has a quest to seek the two whelps of Rhymni.
SARAMA: (Hindu):
Great Bitch who led the
Vedic dogs of death.
SHUCK: (Norfolk):
A spectral black dog, said to be headless. Old Shock in Suffolk. From
O. E. scucca meaning "demon".
SEDNA: (Canadian and Greenlandic Inuit):
She who has boundless command over
the destinies of mankind. Controller of rains and storms. Moon goddess, who rules the land of the dead and is attended by
a dog.
SENMURW: (Iran):
A winged monster, pictured as a dragon with a dog's head.
SIAW: (Armenia):
"The
Black". The Hound of Death. Guardian of the threshold, attends the dying. See Spitak.
SKYLLA or SCYLLA: (Greek):
Female
monster with six wolf-heads and twelve feet who devoured passing seamen.
SONS OF THE BLUE WOLF: (Mongolia):
The
Mongols viewed themselves as "sons of the blue wolf", descended through Genghis Khan from a mythical wolf that came down from
heaven.
SPITAK: (Armenia).
"The White". The Hound of Life. Guardian of the threshold, can restore life. See
Siaw.
ST CHRISTOPHER: (England):
He lived by a ford and in legend carried the incognito Christ across a river.
In the Old English Passion of St Christopher the saint is described as being "He was of the race of mankind who are half hound".
It was said that "He had the head of a hound, and his locks were extremely long, and his eyes shone as bright as the morning
star, and his teeth were as sharp as a boar's tusks".
SVANASYA: (India):
In the mandala of Vajravarahi, in
the western quadrant, direction of the Dead, there is the red dog-headed dakini who is called Svanasya.
TIEN
KOU: (China):
The Chinese Celestial Dog. A storm deity.
TORNGARSUK: (Eskimo):
Tor ngarsuk was a benevolent
one-armed god who married a malicious woman, sometimes called his mother, who lived under the sea with a guardian dog.
TYR:
(Norse):
A war god, also known for his correctness in judgement and rulership. He is said to be one-handed, having lost
a hand to Fenrir when the Wolf was chained up. Tyr will be slain in combat with Garm.
UP-NAT: (Central Asia):
Dog
Deity. "Opener of the Way".
UR-IDIM: (Sumeria):
The constellation Lupus, a wolf-like animal.
UTE
TRIBE, The: (Rocky Mountain area of Colorado):
In Ute mythos the wolf played a major role in how the people came to the
earth. The wolf had carried a heavy bag on his back and therefore could only move very slowly. When he stopped to rest the
bag burst and all the people poured out and went to the different places on earth.
VLKODLAK: (Slavic):
A wolf-man
in Slavic folklore. The wolf was the most feared creature in northern and eastern Europe and Vlkodlak was the personification
of the wolf.
WEPWAWET: (Egypt):
The Messenger of the Road, Opener of the Ways. Jackal or wolf god of War.
The twin of Anpu. Leader of the Gods. Watcher and Guide to the dead, protector of the innocent. Defender of Truth. Energy
that permeates the universe.
WHISKEY JACK: (Southwestern Indians and elsewhere):
See Heyokah.
WHITE
DOG:
It was a custom of the Iroquois people to use a white dog as a sacrificial scapegoat, and white dogs have often been
considered unlucky. In the Treasury of Good Sayings, a Bon chronicle of Tibet, the coat of a white dog was dressed with a
poisonous substance by a son of King Trikum's widowed queen called Rulakye. When it went home to the Bon ruler, Lonam, who
had held the throne for thirteen years, he could not resist patting the dog and so he subsequently died.
WILD
HUNT, The: (Germany):
A pack of spectral hounds that are seen as a portent of death or disaster.
WISHT HOUNDS:
(Devon):
See Yeth Hounds.
WODEN'S HUNT: (Scandinavia):
A pack of spectral hounds that are seen as a portent
of death or disaster.
XOLOTL: (Mexico):
Dog deity.
XOTL: (Aztec):
The dog-headed god of death.
Xotl guided the sun safely through its underworld passage each night.
YETH HOUNDS: (Devon):
The word "yeth"
means "heath". The appearance of these dogs signalled a death. Also known as the Wisht Hounds